Image Comics' October 2015 Solicitations Deliver "Paper Girls," "I Hate Fairyland" & More

[cc008]

The Mercenary Sea Facebook page explained why. I can't really remember what the specific reason was, but it came down to sales. I'm hoping the book finds life at Boom or Oni. It's fantastic!

Here's the post:

Hi all. We know a few of you have been asking about the book - wondering if it's been canceled. I wish I had better news for you. As we published our 8th issue last December, we were dealing with production delays and sales had declined to the point we were on the brink. Image gave us a chance of continuing if we could put together enough issues for a new trade volume - which I had hopes would be out this year. That window has passed, and now I think we can officially say this ride has come to an end. Too bad, cuz there were more stories to tell, but sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. (Hell, I'm still pissed Firefly's off the air.) Your support encouraged us; your letters and emails let Mathew and I know we were doing something right. For that, we thank you. I'm sure we'll each be back one way or another - hope you tune in then. - Kel Symons

https://www.facebook.com/themercenarysea?fref=ts

[Look]

I think Image will have a very good year of sales come late 2015 and into next year

[Mjolnir]

I should've known something was up when all the Facebook page was doing was promoting Reyn(which I recently dropped.)

See, this is what worries me. This isn't a knock on you. I've dropped books too I haven't liked. Everyone has different tastes and likes, and it's your opinion. But I read Reyn, and like I mentioned in a post above, I feel like it's a book no one reads. I like the story. It started off as a fantasy, and then quickly changed genres to sci-fi which caught me off guard, but yet loved the twist. It's just one of those books I took a chance on, liked, but feel like in the near future I'm gonna be reading about it's cancellation here on the boards or on the Facebook page.

I want to support creator owned books. I love them. But it's almost to the point where I don't want to support it until it's been out for awhile. Sort of like how with a lot of new TV shows, I won't watch the first season until it gets a second season renewal. I don't want to invest the time into a series that's just going to canceled with no resolution to the story after a just one season. I'm really starting to feel this way too about creator owned books. Thankfully I haven't been burned on too many. I've chosen wisely and ended up picking up books that everyone else seems to get and like. But yet, there are the few I love that I feel no one else is reading and I worry. Like what happened with Pisces.

But I get it. It's just part of the business in a very crowded market.

[Dorktron]

I want to support creator owned books. I love them. But it's almost to the point where I don't want to support it until it's been out for awhile. Sort of like how with a lot of new TV shows, I won't watch the first season until it gets a second season renewal. I don't want to invest the time into a series that's just going to canceled with no resolution to the story after a just one season. I'm really starting to feel this way too about creator owned books. Thankfully I haven't been burned on too many. I've chosen wisely and ended up picking up books that everyone else seems to get and like. But yet, there are the few I love that I feel no one else is reading and I worry. Like what happened with Pisces.

I completely agree. As I said earlier, Wiebe and Image have alienated their audience for future books because they didn't even finish one arc on Pisces, a strange move with a 17,000 initial fanbase total. Sure, sales dipped past issue 1 but a strong finish to the arc would yield strong trade sales and could even give the project extended life, much like Goners. Wiebe said that he is working for free in order to do the last two Peter Panzerfaust issues, but that isn't really accurate. It is an investment for his future buyers on his future projects and I say this as a business owner, not some ill-informed clown. I understand it is a complex industry with lots to consider, but consideration should always be geared towards the customer and your fanbase and, I can say with confidence, I will not be buying his future books unless I know there is at least one arc out.

[nebezial]

i have said this before.... in fact, allow me to quote myself on this one.



now, as i work predominantly for independent companies, my work can be a bit hard to get.



reason for this is a simple one. comic book stores buy their supplies from diamond. the main distributor.
they buy stuff they know will sell. comics aren't a huge profit business so they have to choose the winners on their own.

it is a harsh system but comic store owners have bills to pay as well. so don't take this as me harping on them in any way (Smile)

it's more of an explanation of how things work for those interested in getting into creator owned/indie market.

some stores will stock on indie stuff, most will stock on issue 1 and judge on people preordering issue 2 onward, whether or not they will keep ordering the book.

unfortunately this is how good books often die. customers don't really know this process. i certainly didn't.

we enter a store pretty much expecting the store to hold the product that is relevant to their business and our interest. it is a given to us.

unfortunately this doesn't work with comics. preorders and pull lists are what makes or breaks an indie book, so if you plan on making and publishing a comic, keep this in mind. this nearly killed death vigil.

it is a vicious cycle.

it is a road to failure and here is how it goes

1 publish a book and people like it- you are in 7th heaven...

2 people don't know about preorders so they count on the store to keep ordering and they'll keep buying. this isn't so. store orders significantly less copies of volume 2 and 3 and publisher regulates the printrun accordingly

3 you start realizing that the initial profit melts away after issue 1 with alarming rate, and by issue 3 you find yourself struggling to keep your head above the water...

4 this is when you take on sidegigs to help finance the book you are passionate about. while you are trying to make ends meet, your book starts suffering delays...and the interest in it wanes

5 orders catastrophically drop with delays as readers more and more start trade waiting. ironically trade at that point might be a very optimistic idea...

6 misery and despair


many books vanished this way. my personal solution to this is-

1 inform people interested in your books about how this works
2 promote the good books.






i can tell you from my own personal experience. this industry has a way of crushing your hopes.

take my own comic death vigil. here is the series metareview so far.

http://comicbookroundup.com/comic-bo...cs/death-vigil

it's 9.2

it's a dying book. i had to go as far as to post the series online for free just to make people aware of it.

believe it or not, we don't give up on our books because we are arrogant. we give up because trying to keep them produced ends up being an exercise in body and soul crushing futility.

it is trying to keep multiple anvils afloat. after a while you either let go, or they drag you under and you too drown.

i talked to kurtis face to face. i saw how hard this hit him. it''s never an easy thing to so.

[antony]

a strange move with a 17,000 initial fanbase total.

If 17,000 sales of a new issue #1 actually equalled a fanbase of 17,000 readers, every single book on the stands right now would be in a much healthier place. The fact is, many issue #1s go to speculators, collectors, multiple copies to a single buyer, good stores that want to keep #1 in stock while the first few issues are finding their audience, etc etc etc.

UMBRAL — which we've had to put on hiatus owing to low sales after two volumes — started out at 16k. If that had been our actual readership, we'd be laughing all the way to the bank and making new issues right now. But clearly, that wasn't the case.

Not even finishing the first arc is harsh, no question. But the decision to stop working on a creator-owned book is never an easy one, and I guarantee Kurtis didn't do it lightly.

(This is also why I'm handling THE FUSE, and CODENAME BABOUSHKA, differently; each story is separate-but-linked, rather than a single epic ongoing. So no matter how many arcs we finish, readers won't feel they've been left hanging in the middle of a story)

[Hero]

(This is also why I'm handling THE FUSE, and CODENAME BABOUSHKA, differently; each story is separate-but-linked, rather than a single epic ongoing. So no matter how many arcs we finish, reader won't feel they've been left hanging in the middle of a story)

I think this is a very wise decision.

And, I feel bad for Wiebe, he puts out some great material.

[comicfiend]

Not even finishing the first arc is harsh, no question. But the decision to stop working on a creator-owned book is never an easy one, and I guarantee Kurtis didn't do it lightly.

Awesome that we have creators themselves weighing in on this thread!!!

While I completely understand and sympathize with Kurtis' position in what likely amounted to working for free, thus cutting/curtailing any losses with issue #3 of Pisces, it's directly resulted in losing me as a consumer from ever purchasing any of his future books in floppy format. Killing a book mid-arc will now result in me only purchasing trades of Mr Wiebe's fine work.

I purchased floppies of Umbral, and was sad to see it tabled for now; I truly appreciated you sticking with it through the second arc as well as your honesty in the situation.

Is there an art preview out there for Codename Baboushka?

[comicfiend]

i have said this before.... in fact, allow me to quote myself on this one...

Great post, appreciate the insight/perspective as a creator!

[Alhazred]

8house: Yorris #5
Black Magick #1
The Fade Out #10
From Under Mountains #2
The Fuse # 15
Invincible #124
Island Magazine #4
Nailbiter #16
Paper Girls #1
Phonogram: the immaterial girl #3
Plutona #2
Rasputin #10
Rumble #8
Sex Criminals #15
Southern Bastards #12
Starve #5
The Walking Dead #147
We Stand On Guard #4

[Joker]

Writers, if they're good and fast and lucky and the issue comes together quickly for them, they can probably pump an issue out in a week, maybe less... I don't know, I'm not a writer and that's going to vary from person to person. (Most writers write several books per month.) But the person drawing the book? It's going to basically take them a month per issue. That's if they're good and fast. That's maybe working 6 days a week, and that's not talking 8 hour office days, either. Artists have to put in the lions share of hours on a comic. I couldn't do that for free for half a year. I have rent to pay and I bet Johnny Christmas does, too. He might have children to feed and other financials we're unaware of.

They might have put in the three months of upfront work they could afford, seen the financial reality of continuing the book (pay out of pocket to publish the rest, but where does that money come from if they've been working for free up to that point?) and had no choice but to cancel it, and take paying work because: adults have financial realities.

It's sad to see fans getting angry at creators and swearing off supporting them in the future; which only goes on to hurt the industry as a whole going forward.

I hope they try again and strike better lightning.

Thanks also to actual comics creators for stepping in and talking to us. I freelance, so I get it, but I've only worked in comics a small amount and never on a creator owned book, so I can empathize, and make educated guesses based on estimated sales figures, but I don't have all the hard facts. Appreciate you two taking the time to address the forum.

[Dorktron]

It's sad to see fans getting angry at creators and swearing off supporting them in the future; which only goes on to hurt the industry as a whole going forward.

It certainly is a tough industry and there isn't a simple solution to these issues. However, you can't fully expect fans to commit $3-4 per issue on a story they never get to see resolved. That isn't a solution and you are simply pushing the financial burden onto the customers. I don't believe anyone swore off supporting creator's work in this thread but to expect at least one arc prior to buying into a storyline is a fair choice for fans, especially after being burned on past books.

We need to see progressive ideas moving forward to help solve these problems. Why not start releasing chunks of storyline at once with a higher price tag? I know people have a stigma about tradewaiters but I still have yet to heard a good reason as to why. TV and anime are shifting towards releasing full seasons at once for this very reason and charging a higher price. It may not be a perfect solution but it is an idea to help creators make money and give customer more buyer confidence. Or maybe release more digital-only issues prior to printing? I don't know but stopping a storyline mid-arc is not the answer.

[Joker]

Asking creators to do a whole arc for free isn't the answer, either. That's exactly the situation you're suggesting with Pisces, and that's a financial unreality. These guys and gals are adults. They're doing what they can, if the market isn't there, the market isn't there. A whole arc released at once isn't going to change that.

Come up with a progressive idea, fine, but nothing you've suggested is factoring in the financial realities for the people making the actual comics. Worst case here, you're out $9-12 at most. These guys are out months of income. You'll excuse me if I'm not feeling too bad for the customer here.

Which is to say, of course it sucks for the customer, but you're not getting the **** end of the stick.

[Dorktron]

Asking creators to do a whole arc for free isn't the answer, either. That's exactly the situation you're suggesting with Pisces, and that's a financial unreality. These guys and gals are adults. They're doing what they can, if the market isn't there, the market isn't there. A whole arc released at once isn't going to change that.

Come up with a progressive idea, fine, but nothing you've suggested is factoring in the financial realities for the people making the actual comics. Worst case here, you're out $9-12 at most. These guys are out months of income. You'll excuse me if I'm not feeling too bad for the customer here.

Sorry but you should know as a freelancer, as I do as a business owner, the burden of success is on us, not the customer. When I started my business, I took out a $25,000 loan and worked very long hours before success even became close to a reality and it took me years to pay off that loan. Working in debt or without a steady income is a reality for creators and business owners. And I grew a loyal fanbase. If the customer feels burned or doesn't like your product, that's your problem to solve. And it sounds like people are feeling burned here, myself included.

[Joker]

Eh, people not buying your comic isn't the same. No bank is going to give you a loan to make a comic book. That's fiction, and not a fair comparison. You're running a business in which you deal directly with your customers. These people are making art, which there's no metric for. You're not walking up to their stall and talking to them, they're not reading the comic to you. There's no fair comparison here. People either support what they're doing or they don't. The onus isn't on them.

I also feel like you're acting like these decisions are being made lightly. I assure you they're not. They're having their dreams crushed, and losing money doing it. Again, you're out the cost of lunch split over several months. You invested in a story, they invested part of their lives, their money, and livelihood. It's comics. Books don't always make it, you know that going in. Boo hoo for you, man.

Sorry, I'm just not on page with your consumer concern here.